Improvement in vent-bungs



PE GE' V Ventg No; 21.5,2ss.- I Patented May i3,--1879.

II, I m

UNITED? STATES PATENT'OFFIGE.

FREDERICK PENTLARGE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN VENT-BUNGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 215,288, dated May 13,1879; application filed January 21, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known th at I, FREDERICK PENTLAR-GE,

and accompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to efl'ect an improvement upon thatclass of bungs which are provided with a hole bored from one face nearlythrough to the otherface, and in which hole it is customary to insertfor the support of the hung a plug, forming a core therein, the saidplug at the same time affording a means for bursting through orsprawling off the unbored end or face of the bung by the driving of saidplug into the bung by blows upon an imposed vent-plug, which vent-plugthus acts as a punch for driving the bung-plug through the bung in theact'of venting the cask.

The improvement constituting this inven' tion consists in providing theinner end of the plug orcore of the hung with a sharp or taper point,and also in providing the solid portion of the bung left within andopposite said bore with a tapering depression or counterbore,

\ whereby the said solid portion is rendered thinner in a small centralspot for the reception of the impact of the taper point of the plug orcore, when the same is driven through the bung in the act of venting thecask; but this counterbore is not absolutely essential to the invention,and may be dispensed with, if desired, without destroying the merits ofthe invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in plan of the bung Aand the plug or core D. Fig. 2 is a diametrical vertical section of thebung A, showing the end of the plug D inserted within the bore a, andformed with the taper or point (1. The solid portion, 1), of the bung isalso shown counterbored or centrally recessed at a, somewhat incounterpart of the plugs point d. Fig. 3 is a section similar to Fig. 2,through the bung and plug, showing the plug inserted in the bung inposition for the driving of the bung into a cask.

Fig. 4 is a diametrical vertical section, showing the ordinary vent-bung and its plug or cylinder core, upon which the invention herein claimedis an improvement.

The advantages of the improved vent-bun g herein claimed can only beproperly set forth by a descriptive comparison of it with theventlnnigIillustrated in Fig. 4. The said advantages will now be setforth as follows:

. In the act ofventin g a beer-cask provided with a vent-bung similar tothat illustrated in Fig. 4, the plug is driven through the bung into thecask, and in being thus driven the said plug drives before it into thecask the whole or nearly the whole of the lower part of the bung,bursting or sprawlingit off near the line of the end of the bore at anangle with its axis in a very irregular break from its adhering fibers.This roughly-broken part thus falling within the cask, having beenseverely compressed in the act of driving the bung into the bung-hole,now swells from its uncompressed or free immersion in the liquidcontents of the cask, and

before said piece can be removed through the bung hole, previous torefilling the cask, it must he cut into smaller pieces. This act ofcutting it into pieces not only consumes much valuable time, butrequires the use of a sharp cutting-instrument, which, being inserted inthe bung-hole, not only cuts the broken part of the hung in pieces, butseriously injures the interior of the cask and its lining material atthe same time, and thus necessitates the re pitching of the wholeinterior of the cask in order to repair its lining, as the beer must notbe allowed contact with the wood of the cask.

In the act of venting a beer-cask provided with the improved vent-bun gconstituting the invention herein claimed, and illustrated in Figs. 1,2, and 3, the plug or core Dis driven through the bung A, the taperedend 61 of said plug breaking through the solid portion I) of said bungby diametrically splitting the fibers of the hung at or near its center,or in the counterbore or cavity 0, thus causing but a comparativelysmall portion of the bung to be detached, and any portion of said bungthat may be detached by the plug D will fall into the cask in a dividedstate, or in smaller pieces than if the whole end or unbored portion ofthe bung were ruptured and torn off bodily at or nearly at rightanglesto the bore, and precipitated into the cask, as is usually the case,

,as aforesaid, when the ordinary cylindrical plug illustrated in Fig. 4is used. By the use, therefore, of the improved taper plug constitutingthis invention only small and comparatively cleanly-cut pieces of thebung can be driven into the cask in the act of venting the same, whichpieces will be readily floated out of the bung-hole in the act ofwashing the cask without the use of any cutting-instrumentor the loss ofany more time than that necessary for said washing.

The desirability of expeditiously and readily cleansing beer casks, andthe necessity of thoroughly removing all chips or foreign matter fromthe same, in order to preserve the quality of the beer unimpaired, iswell known to those skilled in the art of brewing, barreling, andpreserving beer, and serving the same unimpaired from the Cash.

In the construction of this bung it is evident that it is not importantin what manner either the plug D is tapered or the depression 0 formedin the solid portion of, the bung A, so long as the desired resultherein described is attained. It is also evident that by the use of thecounterbore c the remainder of the solid portion 1) may be made thickerthan if the said counterbore or central depression be dispensed with,thus strengthening the bung without otherwise impairing its efficiencybut, as set forth above, the counterbore 0, not being vital to theinvention,may be dispensed with without departing from the principleunderlying this invention, and without depriving it of the practicalsalient means for carrying out said principle.

Having thus fully described my said improvement in vent-bungs, andexplained the operation of the same as of my invention, I claim Incombination with a vent-bung, A, bored partially through, leavingopposite the bore a solid portion having either a plane surface or acentral depression or counterbore, c, as described, a central plug orcore, D, having a sharp or taper point, 61, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

FREDERICK PEN TLABGE.

Witnesses:

HENRY SoHMrrT, WILLIAM E. GILHOOLY.

